Hazardous and Toxic Substances

News about Hazardous and Toxic Substances, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 26, 2015

Consumer Product Safety Commission, prompted by accusations leveled in CBS News program 60 Minutes, announces that it is investigating whether Lumber Liquidators sold products with dangerous levels of formaldehyde. MORE

Mar. 23, 2015

Editorial examines Supreme Court case in which coal industry is challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's standing to regulate mercury emissions under the Clean Air Act; dismisses industry's assertion that EPA must defer to business cost of regulations; argues costs are balanced by economic benefits, including medical costs, to say nothing of human toll should they be scaled back. MORE

Mar. 19, 2015

Minden Journal; residents of Webster Parish, La, debate over how to dispose of 18 million pounds of unstable material, mostly M6 propellant, on state-owned site used for private waste storage; debate comes more than two years after huge explosions at site; committee has been formed to find alternate to current plan that would burn propellant outdoors in large trays, possibly sending carcinogens and other pollutants into air. MORE

Mar. 18, 2015

Editorial examines question of what to do about two bills introduced in Senate that differ significantly in their approaches to reforming Toxic Substances Control Act, which has failed to ensure safety of chemicals used in consumer products; suggests improvements to bill proposed by Sens Tom Udall and David Vitter, which already has bipartisan support. MORE

Feb. 17, 2015

Link between high concentration of cancer in particular population and environmental pollutants can be hard for lawyers and scientists to prove; case of soldiers exposed to contaminants in their drinking water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1950s and 1986, many of whom developed cancer decades later, illustrates difficulty. MORE

Jan. 28, 2015

Federal Aviation Administration will fine United Airlines $1.3 million for violation of rules related to shipment of hazardous materials; found 120 violations in 2013 that were largely related to inaccurate cargo descriptions. MORE

Jan. 16, 2015

Food and Drug Admin opens investigation into case in which hundreds of dummy intravenous saline solution bags were given to real patients; bags of unsterilized solution, intended for use in training health care workers, have lead to one death and at least 17 cases of illness; investigation follows decision by manufacturer Wallcur to recall the bags. MORE

Jan. 15, 2015

Food and Drug Administration says one person died and many others were sickened after infusions of non-sterile saline solution made by San Diego-based company Wallcur; cases have been reported in seven states. MORE

Nov. 24, 2014

Lake Tai, China's third-largest freshwater body, is symbolic of country's inability to solve some of its most egregious environmental problems; government has spent billions of dollars cleaning up lake, but hundreds of factories continue to dump waste into waterways that feed it; environmentalist Wu Lihong has campaigned against pollution of lake for more than decade. MORE

Nov. 17, 2014

Federal and state agencies begin investigation into toxic gas leak at DuPont chemical plant in La Porte, Tex, that killed four workers; air quality monitoring in area does not show elevated levels of the deadly methyl mercaptan gas beyond the plant. MORE

Nov. 10, 2014

Op-Ed article by policy experts Rolf U Halden and Robert S Lawrence calls for reform to the United States regulatory system and manufacturing approach for chemicals; observes that on average it takes 14 years for government to act on known safety issues, problem that is demonstrated by triclosan and triclocarban, antibacterial contaminants that have been used for some 40 years; makes several recommendations toward establishing sustainable chemical regulation. MORE

Oct. 30, 2014

Environmental Protection Agency says 15 million pounds of abandoned M6 propellant at Louisiana's Camp Minden, a National Guard facility, will be burned in trays holding shallow layers of the powder. MORE

Oct. 18, 2014

Only a handful of medical centers nationwide are specially equipped and their staff members trained to handle tide of infectious waste generated by Ebola virus; patients suffer from diarrhea, vomiting and hemorrhaging, making cleaning process itself so hazardous that it requires special training. MORE

Sep. 25, 2014

New chemicals are turning up everywhere in the environment, and the health risks are mostly unknown. MORE

Sep. 7, 2014

National Institutes of Health says it has uncovered nearly century-old container of ricin and handful of other forgotten samples of dangerous pathogens as it searched its laboratories for improperly stored hazardous materials; agency began intensive investigation following July discovery of smallpox vials dating to 1950s. MORE

Aug. 21, 2014

North Carolina lawmakers pass legislation intended to regulate coal-ash pits and clean up toxic waste generated by coal-burning electricity plants; action comes six months after spill at Duke Energy power plant coated 70 miles of Dan River in toxic sludge and ignited debate about safety of 32 other coal ash dumps across the state. MORE

Aug. 18, 2014

Editorial notes that formaldehyde, widely used in consumer products and industrial processes, has been judged carcinogen by the National Academy of Sciences despite efforts of chemical industry to confuse the issue; says verdict amounts to vote of confidence in National Toxicology Program, interagency program that prepares lists of known and suspected carcinogens and that has repeatedly been attacked by industries whose products are affected. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

United States military is coming under fire for several reports showing that it wasted millions of dollars on garbage incinerators at Afghanistan military bases that went largely unused while trash was burned in open piles; reports also conclude that military violated regulations put in place to end large-scale open-pit burns after health risks of practice gained national attention during Iraq war. MORE

Jun. 20, 2014

Records subpoenaed by federal prosecutors as part of criminal investigation into huge coal ash spill in North Carolina show that engineers working for Duke Energy warned the company nearly 30 years ago about pipe made of corrugated metal that needed to be monitored for leaks. MORE

Jun. 10, 2014

Environmental officials in North Carolina and Virginia sign agreement with Duke Energy for the cleanup of toxic coal ash from the Dan River, which flows through the two states; agreement requires Duke to pay any reasonable cost associated with Feb 2 spill at its power plant near Eden, NC, which coated 70 miles of the river in gray sludge; United States Fish and Wildlife Service is also a party to the deal. MORE

Jun. 10, 2014

Supreme Court rules 7-2 that North Carolina landowners who sued CTS Corporation over the poisoning of their drinking water had missed a filing deadline. MORE

May. 23, 2014

Environmental Protection Agency says it has reached an enforceable deal with Duke Energy to clean up its mess from a huge coal ash spill into the Dan River that coated 70 miles of river in North Carolina and Virginia with toxic sludge. MORE

May. 22, 2014

Contaminated rainwater is receding in Balkans but has turned much of Serbia into poisonous stew of toxic chemicals; concerns are now shifting to an almost inevitable outbreak of disease; there are also worries that second wave of flooding will hit region, inundating some of the towns and villages that are just now beginning to dry out. MORE

May. 11, 2014

Op-Ed article by Diane Lewis, physician and founder of Great Healthy Yard Project, warns homeowners that they are exposing themselves to toxic chemicals by using synthetic pesticides, weedkillers and fertilizers on routine basis; notes that natural care of one's yards and gardens is surprisingly easy. MORE

Apr. 26, 2014

Op-Ed article by science journalism Prof Dan Fagin describes tracing route of old canal in Basel, Switzerland, which was used by dye manufacturers to dump chemical waste in Rhine River; notes similar practice was used by companies at Toms River in New Jersey and inland China; observes that prosperity in Basel is built on products now manufactured in much poorer countries, using similar method for disposal of industrial waste. MORE

Apr. 19, 2014

New York City health officials propose stronger oversight of rooftop water tanks after surveys find that nearly 60 percent of building owners have not complied with existing rules requiring annual cleaning, inspection and testing of tanks; experts say some tanks, which supply drinking water to millions of New Yorkers each day, contain E coli. MORE

Apr. 18, 2014

Chinese government releases a report that says nearly one-fifth of its arable land is polluted; finding is certain to raise questions about the toxic results of China's rapid industrialization, its lack of regulations over commercial interests and the consequences for the national food chain. MORE

Apr. 16, 2014

Rapid rise in number of trains carrying crude oil across country, along with series of derailments and explosions, brings new concern about risks of transporting dangerous cargo by rail; Transportation Department says that railroads have voluntarily agreed to apply same routing rules to oil trains that already apply to other hazardous materials. MORE

Apr. 12, 2014

Chinese authorities turn off the water supply to a district in the northwestern city of Lanzhou after excessive levels of a toxic chemical are found in tap water. MORE

Apr. 4, 2014

Texas oil giant Anadarko Petroleum agrees to pay $5.1 billion to restore thousands of sites polluted by toxins and to compensate thousands of personal-injury claimants; case, which stretches back nearly a decade, involves subsidiary Kerr-Mcgee; Justice Department says settlement is largest ever in such a case. MORE

Apr. 2, 2014

Duke Energy company is asking a judge in North Carolina to prevent citizens groups from taking part in any action that would make it clean up nearly three dozen coal ash pits in the state; company faces suit arguing that the pits polluted groundwater. MORE

Mar. 27, 2014

Advocacy group Right to Heal says at congressional hearing that military veterans and Iraqi civilians continue to feel effects of burn pits used to dispose of military waste during Iraq war, and that United States government must aid sufferers. MORE

Mar. 22, 2014

Environmental Protection Agency will join North Carolina regulators in addressing potential violations of the Clean Water Act at Duke Energy power plants, including a massive spill of toxic coal ash in the Dan River. MORE

Mar. 21, 2014

North Carolina regulators charge that Duke Energy, electric utility whose massive spill of toxic coal ash into the Dan River is part of a federal investigation, illegally pumped as much as 61 million gallons of coal-ash wastewater into a second river near Raleigh from September 2013 to mid-March. MORE

Mar. 19, 2014

Virginia Gov Terry McAuliffe says he expects Duke Energy to fully compensate the state for large coal ash spill into Dan River, which crosses Virginia and North Carolina, coating 70 miles of river with toxic sludge. MORE

Mar. 7, 2014

North Carolina Judge Paul Ridgeway rules that Duke Energy must act immediately to eliminate sources of groundwater contamination at its coal ash dumps; decision comes out of complaint filed in 2012, before massive spill from one of utility’s plants coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge. MORE

Mar. 4, 2014

North Carolina regulators say that five power plants owned by Duke Energy have been cited for violating water pollution laws, three days after announcing similar action against Duke’s plant in Eden, NC, where 39,000 tons of coal ash fouled the Dan River; citations could lead to fines of $25,000 per day for each of six plants. MORE

Mar. 4, 2014

First grants from a $19.5 million fund, part of a settlement between ExxonMobil and New York State over a decades-long oil spill in Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, are about to be announced; aim of fund is to make lasting environmental improvements in Greenpoint and address current environmental concerns; fund received 96 grant proposals ranging from modest to grand, and including some from New York City agencies. MORE

Feb. 25, 2014

Michael Powell Gotham column notes that Gov Chris Christie's administration appears poised to let company Soil Safe dump millions of tons of petroleum-contaminated soils on private land along Rahway River; says project is going forward despite documented environmental and public safety concerns that flooding could allow contaminated sludge to wash into river; calls political moves involved classics of New Jersey genre. MORE

Feb. 19, 2014

North Carolina State Department of Environment and Natural Resources says wastewater containing unsafe levels of arsenic from Duke Energy coal ash dump is flowing into Dan River, already contaminated from earlier spill. MORE

Feb. 14, 2014

Federal authorities begin criminal investigation into huge coal ash spill into North Carolina's Dan River, demanding that Duke Energy and state regulators hand over documents related to the accident. MORE

Feb. 11, 2014

Assemblyman Robert K Sweeney of Suffolk County will introduce bill on behalf of Atty Gen Eric T Schneiderman to outlaw tiny plastic exfoliating beads used in personal care products like facial scrubs and toothpastes; scientists report that beads appear in tens of millions in Great Lakes and in high concentrations along New York shores of Lake Erie, where they gather toxins, like PCBs, that could work their way up food chain. MORE

Feb. 11, 2014

Science Q&A on whether certain medications degrade into toxic substances as they age. MORE

Feb. 10, 2014

Toxic chemical spill in West Virginia has spiraled into a crisis of confidence in state and federal authorities, as residents complain of confusing messages and a lack of trust in experts; spill continues to arouse fear and outrage and threatens a political crisis in a state where lawmakers have long supported the coal and chemical industries. MORE

Feb. 8, 2014

Duke Energy says it is diverting the flow of coal ash away from the Dan River in North Carolina but company cannot yet declare the huge spill fully contained; engineers have designed containment system that is capturing nearly all of the toxic runoff and pumping it back into a storage basin. MORE

Feb. 7, 2014

Massive leak of toxic coal ash from Duke Energy's retired North Carolina power plant into Dan River dwindles, but hundreds of workers have yet to seal the breach in a drainage pipe where the leak was detected more than four days earlier. MORE

Jan. 31, 2014

Parabens are used in a wide range of personal care items – from cosmetics to toothpaste, as well as some foods and drugs — but questions remain about their safety. MORE

Jan. 30, 2014

Camorra, one of Italy’s three main mafia organizations, is believed to have buried millions of tons of toxic garbage in a region near Naples, known as the Triangle of Death because of an alarming rise in cancer cases; one environmental group estimates that 10 million tons of toxic garbage has been illegally buried in Casal Di Principe since the early 1990s, earning billions of dollars for the mafia. MORE

Jan. 30, 2014

Tests on the water supply in Charleston, W Va, one week after a chemical spill tainted city’s water system and left 300,000 people without safe water, turns up traces of formaldehyde. MORE

February 10, 2015, Tuesday

An intensive investigation of a mysterious annual epidemic in northern India in which thousands of young children suffer convulsions, lapse into comas and die has concluded that a toxin found in lychee fruit may be the cause.